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When it’s very cold outside, or generally wintertime, there are a lot of seeds in the fields around home. Mostly winter wheat, which does best with hard freezes and such, hence the name. There are lots of seeds, but not lots of farmers in the fields. It’s not surprising that weather determines what farmers do on a daily basis. But a whole winter? That’s a lot of time.

I used to have a sneaking suspicion that my dad went to “work” on winter days just to stoke the fire and farm out loud at the shop. I was right about him spending time in the shop, and I’ve been there enough times to know that a whole lot of farming out loud goes on there. But, there’s actually a lot of work to be done in the winter. There’s paperwork to fill out (and tax forms, oh joy), and there is machinery to clean up, fix up, and generally get ready for the hectic work of spring (and all the other seasons).

This winter, my dad has been working in the shop on the John Deere 4960. It needed new interior. So what did it get? The works, of course. Not only does it have a freshly installed interior, it also has a very detailed, not to mention good looking, paint job. This is one of those little stories that wouldn’t necessarily get told to the world. But this is where a whole host of nerd farming comes in. My dad is a perfectionist when it comes to, well, everything, and that includes his winter project. So he was a little proud of himself, unsurprisingly. (I mean, check out that paint job in the slide show!) First, Dad told his friends on Facebook about his good-as-new tractor. Then, he took his story to the nerd farmers who care the most. He clicked over to a forum on AgTalk about machinery and proceeded to let other farmers check out his hard work. Some of them want to give him directions to their shop so he can spruce up some other local machinery in John Deere green.

This is a great example of somebody with a pretty cool story taking it directly to the readers who want to hear about it. Props to Dad for totally getting this stuff I’m learning about in school. It’s proof to me that it’s worth my time to learn. Telling your story directly, to the people who want to hear it, when they want to hear it – that’s farming out loud at its best.

About Laura Wolf

Agricultural advocacy and discussion from an Agricultural Communications and Agricultural Education major at Missouri State University.
Contact Information
karinne427@hotmail.com
lkw2011@live.missouristate.edu